


Dealer's Mark

by EversLeaf



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Dark Magic, F/F, F/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23547907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EversLeaf/pseuds/EversLeaf
Summary: Magic is a fickle force, capable of both wonders and horrific devastation. For the Northuldra, it embodies the natural order of life and depends on harmony. When its rules are violated, that harmony can mutate into cruelty. Trapped within the enchanted forest, young Honeymaren is stalked and marked by a twisted creature who's desire is unknown. If she fails to fulfill its lasting wish in time, she will suffer an unnatural death.NOTE: Inspired by the deleted scenes from Frozen 2, I decided to do a dark fairy tale, lesbian, adventure re-write that strongly focuses on Elsa and Honeymaren while further expanding the magic of the universe. Ratings may change.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Dealer's Mark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Heads up, this is going to be a dark fairy tale with some horror themes. This first chapter will be a good litmus test to see if the story will be too dark for you. I doubt future chapters will be worse. The reason I'm doing this Frozen 2 re-write is because I'm considering pursuing writing seriously (there's just not enough lesbian fiction) and wanted to try out some ideas and gain experience. I've done poems before but never short stories or novels. So this will be a learning experience. All suggestions, encouragement, and recommendations are welcomed (particularly if the teen rating is appropriate? I'm pretty sure it is but don't want to be wrong about that). As far as canon goes, I'll loosely be following the plot of Frozen 2 but all interactions and scenes will be fresh with some elements from the deleted scenes incorporated. But the bulk will be original with some big changes throughout. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for taking a peek :D

Honeymaren struggled to catch her breath. The sandy ground beneath her bruised body had more pebbles and broken shells than fine grains. It scratched her skin, made it sting as she tried to push herself up. She forced a breath past protesting lungs. The smell of salt and algae competed for her attention in the dark. The landing had been as sudden as the fall itself, knocking her breath out and leaving her disoriented. 

One moment Ryder was mercilessly beating her back away from the cliff as she stubbornly blocked his attacks, then the Earth rose beyond its edge, glared down at her, and swatted, as though they were pests. Their staff practice had disturbed a stray giant relaxing in the waves.

She dropped her staff, "Get down!"

Ducking under her twin's swing, she tackled them both away from the offended palm. But the cliff buckled under the great hand. Everything shook, cracked, and slid. Somehow they separated.

Somehow she fell down into the caves along the bay.

A strip of light shown from the cave's low hung entrance several feet away. It was the only light source. The light's intensity grew and shrunk as the ocean lazily ventured in and out of the space. All around her were boulders, debris. Most were the size of foxes and squirrels. One, just inches from her feet, was the size of an adult reindeer. 

Regaining control of her breathing, she surveyed her situation. She was alone. Her body did not seem broken. But the collapse of the cliffs covered what ever opening she'd fallen through. 

"Ryder?" 

Her call was really a whisper. She was too afraid to shout. When they were five, an older boy had told them a story of cannibals living in the caves. How their skin burned in the sun so they hid in darkness. And at night, they would wail from within hoping to lure curious travelers to the entrance with haunting lullabies. Only to drag their prey down into the deepest, darkest corners. Eating them alive. But those were just stories.

She tried again, louder, "Ryder?"

Her voiced echoed gently. Perhaps the cave wasn't so big. Standing she tried to see more. But the strip of light above the ocean was too thin and too far away. She stood in grays, and beyond her, the black grew dark enough that it seemed to pulse with menace. 

She tried again, emboldened by desperation, "Ryder!" 

There was a faint answer, "Maren? MAREN?"

Scrapping came from above her head. A beam of sunlight shot down.

"Maren!"

Her brother's call was loud and strengthening. The hole was only the size of her fist, but it was enough. 

She answered, "I'm down here!"

"Are you alright?"

Her brother tried to look through the opening. But his head blocked the sun and he could not see. 

She could hear the anxiety in his voice, "Are you okay? Is it deep?"

"I'm fine, lean back again."

He did and she estimated the distance to the ceiling. 

"I not sure. Its hard to see. 20 feet maybe?"

There was no response. So she asked the question that she needed and dreaded the answer to. 

"Can you move the rocks?"

It took her brother some time to answer, "No... they're too big. I'm sorry Maren. I'm going to have to get help."

Her brother was tall and gangly. She would even call him awkward if they did not look so much alike. Everyone said he would fill out into a big man like his father. But they were only 11. Her bravery began to leak from her body. The water behind her was almost a foot below the entrance's roof. She could swim under it. Out into the bay. Just 10 yards then blinding sunlight. 

But the Nok. 

Ever since the fog trapped them all within the enchanted forest, swimming in the ocean meant almost certain death. 

"Maren?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to go. But I'll hurry! I know the tribe and herd can get you out."

She knew she could not ask him to stay, though her growing fears of the dark demanded it. 

"Okay. Go." Realizing how he must be feeling, she added, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"I'll be back. I promise!"

She faintly heard his boots skid and bound off the rocks. And then there was nothing but lapping water. She was alone, hurting, in the dark. 

It would be half an hour, possibly longer before Ryder would return with help. She wondered how long it would take them to move the rocks. She wondered if any would fall on top of her as they tried. 

Unable to turn her back on the cave's dark depths, she sat on a boulder with her back to the ocean. She knew from experience that staring into the dark could trick your eyes. Make you see shapes that weren't really there. It could even reach towards you.

It would have been smarter to face the ocean, to let the water lull her into a kind of peace as she waited. But her heart was already beating too loud and too fast and she had to look. She had to be sure. There was no telling how deep it went. Where it went. What lived inside that darkness. 

Suddenly, there was a creak. 

Like an old tree in the wind. Only there are no trees in caves. 

Something scrapped.

Like antlers rubbing against each other. But she knew there were no deer here. You might see things in the dark, did caves make you hear things? 

Pops and clacks.

She stood up. Alert. Had her staff fallen with her?

Uneven steps began to crunch on shells and pebbles. 

Her heart raced. There was nothing to defend herself with. She stepped back toward the water, her wide eyes desperately penetrating the darkness. 

The grinding steps - they had to be steps - grew closer, louder, faster. 

Her boots sunk into wet. For just a moment her foot slipped. The resulting splash seemed to encourage what ever it was lurking toward her.

Lumbering, scattering rocks, a jagged shadow with grotesque angles, emerged from the black. lt had enormous height wickedly long limbs. A razor-ed arm reached for her.

She would have screamed if her throat was not gripped by panic. Without thought, she threw herself into the ocean. Fighting the water, fighting its sway, its push and pull. When it was deep enough to swim, her hands scrapped against the low rough roof as her arms pelted the ocean. Her feet knocked on rock. Gracelessly, all wild power, she swam toward the light. 

Splashing sounded behind her. The otherworldly creature was coming for her. 

Honeymaren did not stop when she reached the light. She did not stop when the current pulled her to the rocks. Nor did she stop when a wave introduced her head to one. She fought until she defeated the rough turf and reached calmer swells. 

Only then did she look back. 

A thin, gnarled, gray arm reached out into the light, pressed against the cliff face, and pulled a hideous monster out into the open. Its bulging head gleamed under the sun revealing large sunken eyes as deep and as dark as the cave behind it. 

At once, a powerful force burst below her legs propelling her upwards. Honeymaren's body soared and flipped. Sky spun away to ocean where a glistening translucent horse arched back down, disappearing seamlessly into the spray. 

Her back hit the sea and she sunk . Churning blues sloshed over her, burying her body. 

She began to swim up for air but the Nok gleefully galloped past. Then the horse spun and kick her from behind. Her body tumbled in the water and all sense of direction was lost. She searched for the sun only to find the Nok staring at her instead. 

Wanting her to see, to face it. 

The Nok charged. Its hooves bared down on her chest and shoulder. Pushing and pounding. Punishing her all the way down. Down into deeper blues. Down into to colder water. Down to the ocean floor. Its frenzy did not relent there but continued joyfully. Her hands swung and clawed but passed uselessly through its body. How do you fight what you cannot hold? 

It's eyes were featureless orbs without emotion or hate, but Honeymaren saw the horse rejoicing - its glittering body, spinning mane, effortless strength, all sang in chorus as she held her breath in vain. 

She managed to wrestle her way onto her stomach but the relentless hooves on her back stopped her from crawling away. Beneath the Nok's death drumming, her burning lungs rebelled and breathed. Painfully, water and sand filled her chest. Her body convulsed. And as her vision sponged with black, she saw a truly heart-stopping site. A skeleton walking on the ocean floor. It wasn't ten feet tall with cutting arms. It was just a tall, undead human. 

Its jangled bones moved deliberately. Coming to her. Its torn rags floated around it's body like demonic wings. Too late she understood what the creature was, what had happened to her. Her despair quickly slipped to nothing. 

When the Northuldra's excavation efforts stretched into the late evening, Lieutenant Mattias came to discern the purpose behind the unusual industry. Under different circumstances, Yelana would have told him to shove his industry up his ass, knowing full well what he really wanted to confirm was that the Northuldra weren't engaged in any sort of military activity. 

But it was her niece and there was no time. So she told him. Mattias responded with grace, gathering his men and women and vowing their service to her. She wished it was easier to hate him.

After hours of clearing rubble, there was nothing but an empty dark recess. Ryder broke into an inconsolable fit, and Yelana had to begin the somber process of sending some adults and all of children back to the camp. Ryder especially. She could not be there for him now. The old and young would not be able to search through the night. And searching was their new task. She also had to admit the awful likelihood that Honeymaren had attempted to swim out of the cave and would not be found alive. 

She worked with Mattias to organize their people into small parties. Together they distributed torches and plotted search areas along the bay. 

Just half an hour in, an Arendellian soldier returned to her grid on horseback. Honeymaren had been found. Wasting no time she climbed onto his horse.

Together they rode to the rudimentary camp they constructed on the beach. With hope and caution, she approached the tent which held Honeymaren. Yelana was conscious of all the soldiers. How they did not wear any armour, but had at least two weapons on their person. Weapons for battle. She kept her head high as she tried to reign in her hope. If it was the worst, she could not let the enemy see any vulnerability. 

Mattias met her at the opening of the tent. 

"Yelana, I don't know.... She is alive but there is something strange."

He led her inside and on a bedroll was Honeymaren's prone figure. The child's breaths were deep and slow. 

"We found her like this. We have not been able to wake her."

Yelana knelt to check her niece as Mattias continued his report. 

"Her vitals are normal. No temperature. No wounds except small scratches, some bruising, and a scrape on her forehead."

Yelana brushed Honeymaren's bangs back to inspect the gash. It was not serious. Not the cause. 

"We aren't sure why she isn't waking expect...." He knelt on the opposite side from Yelana and lifted Honeymaren's left arm, "There is this."

He rolled back her sleeve and revealed a mark that chilled Yelana to her core. A crow's footprint on the inside of her wrist. The unnatural tattoo rose from skin like a welt with red angry edges that gathered in her vein's marking their spindly paths up her arm. 

"I've never seen anything like it."

Yelana could feel her body falling into shock as her vision narrowed and her heart fluttered helplessly. She spoke in a choked whisper, "It is the mark of a Dealer."

"What's a Dealer?"

"A Dealer is a perversion of magic. A soul that refuses to pass on, defying the natural order. It exists on in an eternal half life, no longer human but bound to its body. A tool with animal cunning to fulfill one lingering desire. It waits until it finds a person on the cusp of death and uses its dark magic to twist the dying soul into their Mark."

Mattias struggled to make sense of everything Yelana was saying. After years of living in the forest, he knew enough to understand that magic had an order which had to be followed, but he had never heard of something so ghastly nightmarish.

"What does it mean?"

Yelana felt more tired, more defeated than she ever had, "It means Honeymaren was saved by the creature only to be forced to die by its hand later."

Mattias, seeing her pain had the discipline not to question further but Yelana continued anyways. Roboticly she recited what she needed to hear to accept the new shape Honeymaren's life had taken.

"One day when the creature senses it is time, it will demand for its Mark to repay its intervention. When that happens, the Mark will have 3 moons to complete its one true desire. If the Mark fails. The Dealer will collect what it gave."

"But that means there's hope. She'll live if she completes the task?"

Yelana shook head and gathered Honeymaren into her lap, rocking her. When had she become so tall? 

"No Mark has ever completed the task. Dealers are not human anymore. They cannot speak or even understand their own motivations. They can exist for hundreds of years waiting for a chance to make its Mark. The magic it possesses is broken. Corrupted and cruel. A curse. Honeymaren may have years or just days before the Dealer calls. And when it does, she will spend her last months desperately trying to fulfill an unknowable wish."


End file.
